Tuesday, June 29, 2010

mv. Robert P. Tibolt


I was pretty amazed. At least three people had posted several photos of the towboats Indiana and Ohio on their final trip down the Ohio River on their way to South America. I didn't think that so many people were so interested in these old boats. Cool.

And I felt bad that I missed it. All the photos of these boats that I had taken over the years, and I missed it. Bummer.

I've been looking in my archives for some photos of the boats back in their Ohio River Company days. I've found some, and there are more archives to search. I spent a lot of years photographing boats and such on the river, and it takes time to go through all those pictures.

I found this one of the Indiana in its first incarnation, as the Robert P. Tibolt. It's heading upriver past Gallipolis, Ohio, with Mason County, W.Va., in the background. This is from the early 1980s, I think. A lot of my photos from that era are experiencing deterioration in their colors. Either that or the processor back then did a lousy job. I'm going with the first, because I don't remember thinking back then that the colors were so bad.


I've played with the colors some to get them back closer to what they should be. It's a skill I'm still learning. Maybe I should find the money to get some lessons from someone who knows what they're doing.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember riding on a private DC-3 back in mid '60
and rec'd a set of
of bronze coasters with the Robert P Tibolt name raised along with a boat.
Just need to donate these to some place Anyone have any ideas. Ilean Bryce 863-991-2502

Anonymous said...

I'm one of Robert P. Tibolt's grandchildren. How did you come by the coasters? Do you still have them?

Anonymous said...

To the blog owner - thank you for posting this photo! I'd love to know anything you've learned of the Robert P. Tibolt, named after my grandfather (I just posted above). We have photos of it being launched, and still have the bottle that was broken to christen it.

ohio981 said...

The Tibolt was sold and renamed the Indiana. In about 2010, it was sold and sent to South America.

fallaway said...

Thanks very much for your reply. We'd been trying to track it down to no avail; no wonder, when it's out of the US. Still pretty wonderful if it's still in service, though my mother was sad to learn that her father's name was no longer on it. I found the invitation to the launching also, and a copy of the newspaper report - and also a silver plate with the occasion engraved. I've tried to get in touch with your other poster about the coasters, but haven't gotten through to the number.

Nivek Nitram said...

I worked on the Tibolt from '90 to '98.

fallaway said...

Thank you for posting! I don't suppose your work on the boat was related to its namesake at all. But if yiu have any stories, I'm sure my mother would love to hear them. She's the last surviving child of Robert P. Tibolt, still going quite strong even after breaking her hip a few weeks ago.

fallaway said...

Robert P. Tibolt's grandchild here again. We just find a short film, probably a newsreel, of the launch of the Robert P. Tibolt. We also have the silver platter that was given at the event (and is shown in the film), and a commemorative box with the bottle used to launch it, if anyone's interested. I'd still love to get in contact with the poster who has the coasters, and the one who worked on it (I hope it wasn't troublesome!).

Anonymous said...

In the 1970s my family of 7 went through the locks near Wheeling, WV with the Robert P. Tibolt. We were on a 26 foot sailboat and they tied us on to the tugboat and we climbed on and they showed us around the boat while we went thru the lock. Still remember that experience as a teenager.